We are thrilled to introduce you to our newest Pittsburgh Moms Blog team members! You’ll get to know them more over the next weeks as they share their first posts with you. Here’s a little insight into the newest Pittsburgh moms who are joining our team!
Frances
Frances is a wife, mother of middle school age boys, and a community volunteer. She works as a clinical laboratory scientist by day and moonlights as a blogger. She spends her free time decorating her home, reading or listening to a good book, finding new things to try, attempting to organize, and making lists to help keep everything on track. While she has a good life, there is always room for improvement.
Heather
Heather Holtschlag is a Pittsburgh-based freelance writer and public relations specialist. She is the wife of an incredibly smart and talented business owner and the mother of two boys who light up her days with their vivacious personalities and ear-to-ear smiles.
After nearly 15 years as a fulltime healthcare public relations specialist (and the birth of her sons), Heather launched Healthy Fit PR, a business dedicated to meeting the promotional needs of health and wellness clients. Through Healthy Fit PR, Heather works with clients to develop strategic public relations plans that incorporates a variety of communications tools, including website content, newsletters, media relations campaigns and social media marketing.
An avid exercise enthusiast, Heather often practices what her clients preach and can be found at the gym most mornings, either running, taking an exercise class or strength training.
You can read more about Heather and view writing samples at www.HealthyFitPR.com.
Hillary
Jesse
Originally from outside Philadelphia, Jesse Hartwich moved to Pittsburgh three years ago and now lives in the South Hills. She is married to her adorably nerdy husband whom she met in junior high and together they have a one-year-old daughter, Riley, and a second baby on the way in June 2017. A writer by schooling and profession, Jesse graduated from Susquehanna University and has worked as a copywriter/editor for several major retailers. She now stays home with her daughter but continues to write for herself, both fiction and her own blog (www.WanderlustRunning.com).
In addition to writing, Jesse is an avid runner and will race anything from the mile to the marathon. She loves to travel, read, be outside, and enjoy a good latte. As a newbie mom, Jesse is just beginning her parenting journey and is excited for all the adventures to come with her growing family.
Julia
Julia is a lifelong writer and lover of good wine and carbs. She lives in the South Hills with her family: a husband, two boys aged four months and 14, and two cats. She freelances in marketing, communications, and writing and is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Julia has an MBA from Point Park University and a Bachelor’s degree from Pitt.
She enjoys hanging out with her family, traveling to new places, Wheel of Fortune, and sleep. If she had a superpower, it would be to fly: traffic jams would be a thing of the past.
Katie
Katie is a wife and mom of two boys, Lucas and Toby. She is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, with a degree in Marketing & Communications. Their second son, Toby, was born in May of 2016 and died suddenly in August from SIDS, at 12 weeks and 5 days old. Through this loss, they have founded The Little Fox | Toby’s Foundation with the hopes of bringing joy, laughter, and lots of smiles to families within the Pittsburgh community, while working to spread awareness about child-loss and the lives of grieving parents.
Katie is currently the Director of Marketing for A. Martini & Co., and General Contracting and Construction Management Firm. She has been heavily involved with juvenile diabetes research, because she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 2. Currently, Katie sits on the Executive Leadership Council for the American Diabetes Association, Pittsburgh Chapter and is part of the planning committee for Step Out: Pittsburgh each year. While in the throes of motherhood, Katie is also active throughout the week with exercise routines, Paw Patrol and PJ Masks episodes, blogging at Our Happy Place & Co., a lifestyle blog she started in 2013, and working with her husband on the mission of The Little Fox.
Lanae
Lanae is lifelong Pittsburgh resident with a brief stint in Ohio for her high school and middle school years. Most of her life she lived in Wilkinsburg but recently became a resident of the north boroughs. Lanae holds an associates’ degree in fashion merchandising and a bachelor’s degree in business management. After college, Lanae, entered the insurance and financial services industry by becoming a licensed agent and a claims specialist. Lanae also is an advocate for cloth diapering and baby wearing. Through her website drybabies.org she offers information and sources offering cloth diapering to all women and families in need.
With two boys and 3 girls ranging in ages from 18- 2 most of her time is spent traveling to ballet lessons, band practice, and cello lessons. Also, two of her children are special needs and require various appointments and therapy. When there is time left, she enjoys writing, sewing and cooking. She is currently finishing up her first novel with more already in the works. With a love for travel, Lanae and her family have been to 5 different Caribbean islands and 2 countries in South America. So, look to hear more about the organized chaos that is traveling with 5 kids.
Lauren
Lindsey
Marissa
Mary
Mary Yohannan lives in the Baldwin-Whitehall area of Pittsburgh. She moved to Pittsburgh over 2 years ago with her husband and 2 beautiful children. Mary owns her own travel agency Life is Better Traveling™, LLC which has helped hundreds of families take amazing vacations to Disney®, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Alaska, and all over Europe. She is also the founder of the Travel Agent School Supporting Learning and Education™ or T.A.S.S.L.E, which has the How to Become a SUCCESSFUL Travel Agent program™, a one-stop, all-inclusive program for someone who wants to become a Successful Travel Agent. Mary earned the distinguished honor of the Certified Travel Associate (CTA) through the Travel Institute in 2016, and has several other travel and tourism certifications.
Mary has traveled to over 20 countries on 3 continents, but it wasn’t until she had children did she learn that traveling with little ones is a completely different, and sometimes challenging, traveling experience. Mary’s authentic passion for travel and traveling with her children has given her extensive knowledge on the best tips, tricks, and hacks to keep kids calm, entertained, and well-behaved while traveling. She posts a variety of travel tips and tricks on her highly coveted, High Content Life is Better Traveling website, but she has a lot of great advice on traveling with kids that she can’t wait to share with all those amazing Pittsburgh Moms.
Raeanne
Ryan
She’s a proud graduate of the Pittsburgh Public School System and later received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pittsburgh. Her early career years were spent in the non-profit sector as a post-secondary counselor for at risk youth. She later transitioned to working closely with grants management and technical assistance training. For the last 10 years she’s worked as a Technical Communication Specialist focusing on interface instruction, user experience, and user guidance for several software products.
Sarah
Stephanie
Stephanie is married to a boy she met in 5th grade and the mother of two awesome kids, Evi and Eli. She is a graduate of Duquesne University, with a degree in Communications and Psychology and a master’s degree in Counseling Education. Stephanie is an elementary school counselor, so essentially, is surrounded by children for most of her day.
She loves warm weather, going on adventures with her family, walking on trails, and having a “free day” with no plans! Stephanie loves to write and still enjoys a pretty notebook and a favorite pen rather than a computer.